Corner Speed

How many times have you approached a corner held breath manage to get round comfortably if not a bit tensed up when round thought I could have gone round a lot faster than I did? You could take the same line round yet faster, bottle and confidence is where I would be looking not degrees of lean and speed, only opinion mind.

 

I'd say a track rider would be able to start going round a corner at 80 and just increase speed even at fixed lean, eventually he will resemble Marquez as traction will struggle then it's about controlling the slide, go to flat track school in Lincolnshire at Pete boasts place slide will be learnt probably better than I learnt, if you think a scalextric car holding a steady grip on the hand thingy if you squeeze the hand control quite quickly the car will spin off on the other hand if you gently increase pressure the car can go faster and faster on the same line until it eventually flies off at great speed surprising how fast it got to....I don't know what the fuck I'm on about but I do in a daft way

 

I have a good mate probably best mate, give him anything and he can go round corners quick no suspension adjustments no checking tyre pressures no fucking about he just has a set speed, what I'm saying is bikes will do it on the road, most of us have a limiter in our heads (most of us) I've been overtaken by any number of bags of shit bike in my life and I accept I had to up my game, you remember a59 m59 tyres rock hard and slidey but you know what when warm they were fucking brill, proof if needed I was in Padgetts about 25 years ago moaning about them on my slab side 750 the guy in the shop pointed to a picture on the wall of a tt racer and said that fella is running them doing a 120+ lap ha ha I shut me trap after that....put a fast lad on a shit bike it will still go fast in our eyes.

 

I'm no expert but have in the past gone not too bad, I can honestly say the major thing is bottle, we are mostly the same two arms legs etc, you know what we all go trying to get the best stuff on the bikes, I've sat at cadwell watching chris walker come over the mountain on a standard zx9 full upright on the back wheel crossed bars but lent right over if that makes sense, he was mullering everything without going 100% on a standard zx9 that's the rider not the bike, I was chatting to Dennis winterbottom (tt and endurance racer from memory)in ripon once believe it or not I was selling clothes out the back of my car lol and he was running a car workshop came out to look at my wares, I remember him talking to me about my upcoming race at Mallory and saying just go for it from the off too much is made of cold tyres I was only on an rgv 250 I still remember been scared to death, but basis is bottle I don't mean it in a cheap way how many times do you see road racers knee down?

 

Only way is widen the entry and exit point. So faster in and faster out. Apex may be same speed, but you get to it faster and are potentially holding the speed longer.

I know what `I mean but not sure that sentence makes any sense whatsoever...!

 

Wide entry and someone will be ruining your day

 

Bottle, but good suspension and tyres also count for a lot.

When I raced my old monster, year 1 I had plenty of fast apex bottle, but the bike was a bucking bronco ride. Looked horrific from behind (apparently) but I just rode thru it.

Sorted suspension flowing tear and I could go way quicker, felt the same speed, because it was more controlled.

So it’s not all about balls....

 

Depends how fast you are going..

 

In my head and with no technical knowledge, I've always thought of it like this

Bikes do not have the ability to steer like a car where you can turn the wheel around several times, so most of the steering is by movement of the bars accentuated by the movement of the rider. To get the best from that combination, having a bike set up right for you personally, extends the possible potential of the bikes ability.

On the rider side, confidence is as bigger improvement as can be made and with that practice such as track days, can be far more useful than the latest lighweight parts.

I've also found that my best riding has been fluid and without little thought but more intuition, as over thinking can cause more issues on a bike

Also honesty, someone being a better rider than you doesn't mean you're a bad rider.

 

From my race school training at California Superbike School, factors I can remember as relevant would be:

- weight distribution front to back, controlled by throttle and body position: rear has larger contact patch, so max grip is generally available when bike is accelerating (after turn-in point obviously)
- when hanging off, we were taught to also lean forward into the corner; I’m not 100% sure of the physics, but logically this would change the COG of bike and rider, which might help with the weight balance front to rear but also balance cornering forces
- as others have mentioned, suspension is key to Maximising grip from the available contact patch, so that will be a factor; also mentioned by others is how relaxed or tense the rider is, as a relaxed rider helps the suspension and balance
- psychological factors mentioned by others related at the end of the day to confidence and sufficient forward vision: as you know, the further ahead you look the faster you can go

 

Laws of Physics the faster you go the higher the force on the bike is. Lean angle is need to counteract this increase. So no a greater lean angle for the same bike would be required. But the bike has rider so if the rider changes position then the angle would be affected. But with rider in same position angle would have to be increased.

Try going round a corner straight up? The faster you go the more lean angle is required depending on the radius of the bend.

 

When I’d first started riding, I rode with a very fast group of mates. All were fast group riders and had been riding years.

I remember stopping after a ride and I mentioned to one of them that I’m just going to go into corners as fast as them on the way back. In my young head, I hadn’t fully adopted the self preservation yet and at the end of the day we were all on 2 wheels and it was just my head. Anyway, stuck right on their back wheels all the way back and have done ever since. One of them said afterwards, “I heard you say that and thought you're going to end up in a ditch but fair play it worked”.

Years later I was on a track day with my younger cousin. It was his first track day. He was young and fearless and I was losing chunks of time at Paddock Hill despite me being faster everywhere else. It took me about 3-4 laps of following him and switching off my brain, to get as fast as him.

Basically, riding with faster people teaches you what can be done and I think the rest is in your head.

 

Assuming both wheels are not spinning, to go faster through a corner you are giving more thrust and asking for more lean to counter the gyroscopic forces of the bike wanting to stand. That’s the basic physics of it as far as I am aware.

That works to the point where you are either on the limits of grip or lean angle. That’s where you adjust your style in order to try and give the tyres a slightly easier time to stay just inside that limit.

 

Why? Won’t help you go faster understanding the physics. Further you lean, more grip you ask for. Hanging off reduces lean angle for given speed so yes: hang off more and you can go faster for same lean angle.

But tell mike Edwards that: bolt upright rider that can piss most racers into the wind up to top British level